Lifting-propeller for aeroplanes.



B. VON BULTZINGSLOWEN. LIPTING PROPELLBR FOR ABROPLANES.

APPLIOATION- FILED SEPT. 20, 1912. 1,071,697, Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

3 SHEETS-'SHEET 1.

aux

INVENTOR ATTRNEYS wlTNEssEs:

B. VON BULTZINGSLOWEN. LIFTING PROPELLER FOR AEROPLANES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 2o, 1912.

Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTORNEYS B. VON BULTZINGSLOWEN.

LIFTING PROPBLLBR ron AEROPLANES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 20, 1912.

Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

"IIll-IIIIIHIIIIIIIIl-IlllllHl o y INVENTOR WITNESSES:

ze /Lwm ATTORNEYS BRUNO veu BLTzINGsLwEN, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

LIFTING-PROPELLER FOR AEROPLANES.

imi ,697.

ISpecification of Letters Patent.

Patent-eu sept. 2, 1913.

Application med september 2o, 1912. serial No. 721,450.

To all wiz-om 1' t may concern Be it known that I, BRUNO voN BLT- zrNosLwEN, a citizen of the German Em` pire. residing 1n New York, 1n the borough of the Bronx, county and State of New Yorlchajte invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lifting-Propellers for Aeroplanes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to lifting propellers for aeroplanes by which the aeroplane can be lifted in avertical direction to any desired height without moving in forward or backward direction, and by which observations, can be made from the aeroplane, explosives dropped on objects below the same, and the machine steadied, balanced and protected .against sudden wiwi-pressure from one side .or the other; and for this purpose the invention consists of a lifting propeller for aeroplanes which comprises an outer ring-shaped frame, a polygonal centerframe, va plurality of overlapping wings or =blades whichare pivoted to bearings of the Iring-shaped and center fran1esan upright shaft on said center-frame, means for imparting rotary motion to the shaft of the lifting propeller, and means for setting the individual wings or blades to suitable angles of inclination to the plane of the lifting p propeller.

The invention consists further of certain details of construction and means by which the centrally-pivoted wings or blades are tilted=from their horizontal overlapping position into a position at a varying angle of inclination to the plane of the llfting propeller,.and the invention consists lastly of certain details of construction which will be dotted lines show the inclined or tilted position of the wings or.- blades, Fig. 6 is an endelevation of Fig. 4, and Figs. 7 8 and 9 are various details of construction,

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondlng parts throughout the different figures of the drawings.

The improved lifting propeller for aeroplanes is composed of an exterior ringshaped frame a, a hexagonal center-frame al which is keyed to an upright shaft s, and wings or blades the pivot-shafts b1 ot' which turn in bearings of the outer and center frames a, al. The shaft s is supported in a neck-bearing b2 of a horizontal arm j of the supportlng frame f of the aeroplane, and suspended from a collar b having antifriction-rollers b4, at the upper end ol the shaft. To the lower end of the upright driving shaft s is applied a second collar b5 by which any vertical shifting or slipping motion of the shaft s is prevented. "lhe downwardly-extended hub of the hexagonal center-frame al is lirmly keyed to the shafts and attached by, means of a transverse pin or key b to a step-bearing Zi? which is supported below the center-frame al by radial inclined straps Zr that are attached at their outer ends to the ring-shaped frame a and at their inner ends to a circumferential flange on the step-bearing b", as shown clearly in Figs. Q and 3. The middle portion o f the upright shaft s is su )ported 1n a stationary sleeve fl at the en of an angular bracket d1 which is attached to av horizontal arm j of the supporting frame f. Rotary motion is imparted to the propellershaft s from an intermediate driving shaft al, which turns in bearings of the frame f, by means of bevel gear-Wheels e, el, the bevel gear-wheel e* being keyed to the upper end of the propeller-shaft s immediately below the arm f1 of the frame f and adjacent to the upper end of the stationary sleeve (l, while the bevel gear-wheel c is keyed to the intermediate driving shaft s1. A bevel gear-wheel@2 is keyed on the opposite end of the intermediate shaft s1 and is moved in or out of mesh with the shaft s* bya clutch c, the shiftable member c1 of which is operated by a lever-connection c2, c with 'a hand-lever near the seat of the operator, so as to impart rotary motion to the intermediate shaft s1 and the propeller, or interrupt the motion of the same. A bevelpinion e3 is in'mesh with the bevel gearwheel e and keyed to a transverse shaft s2 by which rotary motion is transmitted to the bevel gear-wheel e3, the shaft s2 being driven by an' intermediate sprocket wheel and chain transmission (not shown) from the motor-shaft of the aeroplane. The wings or blades b are made of a double eX- terior clamping frame 1) and a web of suitable waterproof fabricv which is tightly stretched across the clamping frame 6*. lnthe drawings six overlapping wings or yblades and a hexagonal center-frame are the outer ring-shaped frame a'and the inner or center frame al, and set into an inclined position by'pinions n* at the inner ends of their pivot-shafts and by vertical rack-bars n intermeshing therewith. The general shape of the wings or blades is oval or elongated, but stralght at their inner sides, adjacent to the center-frame, and arc-shaped at their outer sides, adjacent tothe outer ring-shaped frame, while the ends of the Wings or blades are curved for connecting the sides, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

As the lifting propeller is rotated on its .axis by the intermediate transmissions from the motor and driving shafts of the aeroplane, and as the shifting mechanism for the lifting of the wings or blades, whatever I peller.

be the position to which it is set, has to be rotated with' the lifting propeller, it is necessary to provide a grooved shiftable collar n and an'tifriction-rollers al at the upper ends of the rack-bars n2, so as to diminish the friction of the rollers with the raceway formed by the groove of the shiftable collar n. The rack-bars n2 are guided in -openings o of the center-frame'al, and held in mesh with the pinions nx on the inner ends of the pivot-shafts b1 of the wings The collar n is located on the fixed supporting sleeve al of the upright shaft vs of the lifting pro- The collar 11, is shiftable, but not rotatable, on the stationary sleeve d. It is lowered by anintermediate lever-mechanism from the seat of the operator, according lto the inclination which is to be given to the wingsior blades b, a graduated scaleA (not shown) being arranged near the operating hand-lever for the shift-ing mechanism, sol

that the operator can control the desired angle of inclination of the Wings or blades to the plane of the lifting propeller, and

thereby the upward speed which is to be imparted to the aeroplane by the rotating lifting propeller. v

The lever-mechanism by which the shiftingvmotion is imparted 'to' the collar n is shown in Figs-1 and 2, and consists of a forked lever a3 which is fulcrumed at at to supporting fra-me f.

which slots engage diametrical pinsm,6 on

the upwardlylektending hub of the grooved Vshift able collar n., while the opposite end of the fulcrumed lever 723 is connected by a pivot-link nl with a lever as, which is fulcrumcd at n" to the horizontal arm f1 of the The opposite end of the :lever as is made angular and provided with a horizontal cross-rod nw, which is engaged by antifriction-rollers n locatedat the lower end o-f-a connecting rod n that is actuated by a hand-lever near the-seat of the operato-r. By lifting the connecting lcver-rod lnl", the shiflable collar n is loweredy by the act-ion of the fulcrumed lever a, so

as to shift the collar n and set, by the action of the rack-bars n2 'and pinions ax, the wings or blades Z) of the lifting propeller into greater or smaller inclination tothe plane ofthe lifting. propeller, according to the point on the ,f ,vraduatedl scale to which theY operating hand-lever for the wings or blades is placed. By loweringthe connectlng lever-rod n, the collar n and rack-bars n2 are moved in upward direction and the wings or blades returned into closed or over'- lapping position, as shown clearly in Fig. l.

The shiftable collar n and the forked lever n by which the same is shifted in 'downward or upward direction are clearly shown in detail in Fig. 8, while thetilting wings or blades and the inclined position to which theyare adjusted are indicated in dotted lines in the detail Fig. 5.

The interruption ofthe rotary mot-ion of the lifting propeller is accomplished by the clutch-mechanism c c1 which is laced onA the intermediate driving shaft' s1, and which is operated by a lever-connection from a point nearthe seat of the operator, so as to move the clutch in or out of mesh with.

the hub'of the motion -transmitting gearwheel e2 o-n the shaft s1. l/Vhen the wings or blades of the lift-ing propeller are in their closed or overlapping position, the lifting propeller acts as an auxiliary plane for supporting the aeroplane in the air. When rising from the ground the action of the tilting biplanes of the aeroplane, together with the action of the rotary driving propellers, is relied on for lifting the aeroplane from the ground, until it has ascended to the desired height above the ground. In the closed position, the lifting propeller acts furthermore as a balancing and steadying device for the aeroplane,' and preferably' four of them, one at each corner ofthe supporting frameof the aeroplane, are arranged; they exert a steadying influence on the motion of the same. When, however, the aeroplane is to bev lifted vertically in upward direction. then the rotary motion' of the lifting propellers is started by throwing in the clutch-device and actuating the driving mechanisms of the lifting propellers and setting the wings or blades into more or less inclined position, according to the speed at which the ascent is to be made. l/Vhil'e ascending under the influence of the lifting propellers, the biplanes of the aeroplane have to be placed into horizontal position and thc motion of the driving propeller or propellers has to be interrupted, so that the ascending action is produced solely by the inclined Wings or blades of the lifting propellers, which also serve to hold t-he aeroplane at a certain point in the air. The descent`is accomplished by closing the Wings or blades and permitting the gradual lowering of the aeroplane bv gravity, it being supported to soar in the air by the combined action of the biplanes and closed lifting propellers. The lifting propellers form a very important accessory for aeroplanes as they are thereby enabled not only to ascend and descend vertically in the air, but remain still at a certain elevation in the air, assist in the lifting of the aeroplanes from the ground, and exert an effective balancing and steadying influence thereon.

I claim:

l. A lifting propeller for aeroplanes, comprising an outer ring-shaped frame and an inner center-frame, overlapping Wings or blades pivoted to said frames, radial pivotshlafts for said Wings or blades supported in bearings of said frames, meanscfor tilting said overlapping Wings or blades int-o an inclined position relatively to the plane of the lifting propeller, and means for imparting a rotary motion to said frames and blades.

2. A lifting propeller, comprising an exterior ring-shaped frame, an inner centerframe, a plurality of overlapping wings or blades of approximately oval shape, radial pivot-shafts for said wings or'blades supported inbearings of the outer and center frames, a `center-shaft for the propeller, means for rotating said shaft, and means for positively setting the Wings or blades into an angular position to the plane of the propeller.

3. The combination, with a lifting propeller for aeroplanes, comprising an outer ring-shaped frame, an inner center frame, and overlapping Wings or blades having radial pivot-shafts turning in bearings of said frames, of means for setting said blades into an inclined position to the plane of the `lifting propeller, said means consisting of pinions at the inner ends of said pivot-shafts, shiftable rack-bars guided in openings of the supporting centerframe and intermeshing with the inner pinions, a shaft keyed to the hub of the center-frame, a stationary sleeve for the center-shaft of the propeller, a shiftable collar on said sleeve, and means for imparting a shifting motion to said collar.

4. In a lifting propeller for aeroplanes, an oscillating lifting Wing or blade made of an exterior double clamping frame of approximately oval shape, a web held by said frame, and means for clamping the web to the frame.

5. In a lifting propeller for aeroplanes, a lifting wing or blade made of tWo superposed clamping frames of approximately oval shape, means for fastening the frames together, a web held between said frames, and a central pivot-shaft extending transversely across said frames.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

-BRUNo VON BULTZINGSLWEN.

Witnesses: i

PAUL GOEPEL, JOHN MURTAGH. 

